ohbloodyhell8

After a brief rough patch with a lot of accidents in the house, I used the beloved internet to search for tips on house-training a rescue dog.  Every article I read said to treat it as if he hadn’t been trained at all.  It truly helped me reset my brain.  I spent a day walking Rex every two hours and stuck by him in the house so I could look for signs or signals that he needed to go out.  You need to remember that this is the dog that rarely barks.  He certainly knows how to bark when he wants to, but not to indicate that he needs to do his business.  We discovered that he looks like he’s tracking a ghost and then does laps to one corner of the living room rug when he needs to go poop.

As there is no bark to go with the poop dance, it is critical to either watch Rex the whole time or listen for the clicky sound of his nails on the wood floor.  But the clicks of his nails could also be Rex chasing a cat.  Or his tail.  This morning he did all of his business outside as if he had been doing it for years.  He came in and even ate his breakfast.  Tonight, after a busy day of playing with a tennis ball and lots of love and attention from the boys, he even ate his dinner.  So when I heard his clicky toes on the floor, I thought he was chasing El Tigre.  I was wrong.  But that accident is on me.  I had a hunch he was almost ready, but he’s never gone poop twice in one day.  He also had never eaten both meals in one day.  Today he had.  I should have known.  I am sure that he is very excited that he won’t have to sleep in his crate tonight, since he pooped.

Not that you could tell that he’s excited by looking at him right now.  If there is one thing Rex is really good at, it’s sleeping.  When he is done for the day, he sleeps and there is no waking him up to do anything.  He makes little groaning noises as he falls into the deep sleep.  He also farts as he falls into the deep sleep.  Clearly, he is very relaxed and comfortable here.

Rex is settling in and so are we.